“How many have we got so far?” My throat was dry in similar excitement; this would put us on par if not above that of the Syndicate forces. With more training and better suited weapons, we could give the Syndicate and their forces a run for their money once we were hand-to-hand with them.
“None so far. It needs your approval. Plus, we’re currently making a manufacturing plant in the station along the plans of your assembly line.”
My face fell. “How long will it take to get Mechas for everyone?”
“A few months if we use the materials from the other Mechas.”
“All right, do what you can to speed the process up. I want to have them as quickly as possible. We’re also going to need units for the humans who will begin training as quickly as possible. We need everyone on the same page, including the Sarenmenti forces who have chosen to join us.”
“What about the humans on the ships that just came in? Are you going to train them to be AMCs?”
“Yes. From what I’ve seen and read on reports still coming in, most of them are close to feral. Giving them training will allow them to have some kind of regular normality. Once they’re trained, they will be given an option to wait on the station until they can return to Earth or they can join the Free Fleet. So, tell me what you need to speed up this process.”
“Our problem is raw materials. The station has very little. We’ve mostly taken what we’ve needed from decorations we’ve found throughout the ships and station.”
“What about all of these asteroids floating around? Can’t we harvest some of them?”
“Well, yes, we could.” He looked thoughtful. “Though we’ve never done it before. We’re ship engineers,” he said in way of response.
“Well, I think it’s about time people learned to diversify.” I accessed my communicator. “Min Hae,” I said as it made a buzzing noise.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Salchar.”
“Yes, Commander?”
“Can you run a search for an asteroid miner in the information caches we have?”
“Yes, Commander. I’m on it now. I already have over a hundred matches. What materials would we be looking to extract?”
“Any and all, with a processing facility to separate it all. Automated if possible.”
It was a few minutes before Min Hae came back to me. I was only sure he was still on the line by the fact the microphone had a blue light on, which meant I was connected.
“I have five different configurations of systems.”
“Forward it to Felix and put in the engineering forum that we want to make one and ask for any ideas and input.”
“I’ll get it done. Anything else, sir?”
“Find me a nice damned asteroid heavy in the materials we need.”
“On it.”
“Preferably one within our defensive field of fire.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Salchar, out.” I cut the connection and looked at Shrift. “All right, well, hopefully I can see about mining some big juicy asteroids.”
“About time we had more material. The Resilient’s already out of all her stores and there’s only so much pulling out, melting down, and putting back into place we can do. It’s all a very slow process if you’re only doing a few meters instead of half a deck of plasma conduits in one go!” Eddie entered the armory, having heard our conversation.
“Hello, Eddie. How are the repairs going on her?”
He linked his fingers behind his tool belt as he struck a pose I would expect to see in a Western movie. Even his cowboy hat tilted perfectly.
“She’s in much better shape than before; most of her critical systems are going through an overhaul. I’m leaving the weapon systems in place, as outdated as they are. Resources are going to quickly become an issue.” He growled in annoyance, looking as if he wanted to spit. “The armor is weak in some places, but that’s been our first thing to fix before weapons as per your orders. Though at the same time I’m having secondary systems repaired in case there are blow-outs or malfunctions.” He looked at me with the hint of a smirk, his eyebrow titled slightly.
“Agreed. We don’t want to have systems completely cut out without some way to regain control. I trust in your judgment, Eddie. I’m not going to say I know nearly as much as you for engineering.”
“You’re finally learning somethin’,” he said with a pleased twitch of his arms. “My crew and I have also come up with a few upgrades to be instituted across the fleet. With enough time and materials, we’ll have all of these birds back in space and better than they were when they left their shipyards!
“Give me just four months with the Resilient in a full dock and all the raw materials I’ll need and I’ll be able to fix her hull, overhaul her fusion power plants, and install the four that we’re missing. Give me eight months—I’ll be able to get the engines fixed, and her superstructure, which has been bugging me lately,” he continued on as I tried to stop him.
“A year and I’ll be able to have her up to full fighting trim and upgrade her, new weapons, reactive nanite layered armor, secondary power fusion plants—” His eyes practically started to sparkle as he looked around the armory.
“First, we need a full dock and materials,” I interrupted. “Plus, the Resilient is the heaviest ship we have. We’re not going to be able to take her out of action for a full year.”
He looked downcast before a spark entered his eye after a few seconds. “We’re making a full shipyard?”
“Yes, and we’ll have a full-blown mining and refining operation.”
“We could, well...” He looked off in wonder.
“Don’t think about it. You’re my chief engineer. I’m not leaving you to make a dock.”
“I wouldn’t think about it, Commander,” Eddie admonished. “The Resilient has been too much to me to leave her alone. I wouldn’t trust her with anyone else, other than you of course, Commander. I will still be there, keeping her running,” he said firmly.
“Good. In the meantime, I have an idea for the dock and mining facilities, which Felix is working on. We still need to melt down and refine all of this material and later the material from mining. I want you to organize a group to run that project.”
“We need to get the Resilient back to her true form,” he said.
“We need materials and the only way we’re going to be able to do that is to mine an asteroid.”
“If we took a ship—”
“I will NOT melt down another ship so that we can fix up the Resilient faster. We can’t make ships yet and we’ve just started a war with what I’m finding is the biggest crime syndicate in known history and space. That ship you want to melt down might be beside the Resilient in a battle and save her from dying. If we take that ship away, we take away that support and firepower. Something I am not willing to do. Melt down broken machinery, Mechas, weapons, and those damned useless decorations. Everything else is off-limits. Do you understand, Eddie?” I stared into his eyes before he looked away.
“I understand,” the aged Kuruvian said to the floor, nudging it with his cowboy boots like a small child who had just been told off.
“Good. Now, I would suggest talking with Felix as he’s the one who’s working on getting an extractor and processor made to create the supplies you need. The faster he can get his plans ready, the faster we can get the materials pumping out.”
This put some wind back in his sails.
“Yes, Commander. I’ll have the processor up in no time and kick that Felix’s ass into gear with the extractor,” he said with a happy smile before he took off toward the armory door, yelling at the nearest engineer. “Stop looking like you’re trying to work, George. We’ve got an asteroid eater to make!”
That crisis averted, I turned back to Shrift.
“You have plans for a space dock? I thought we were only making the extractor and processor,” he asked.
“We’ll get into that when the time comes. Now, in the meant
ime, I need you to get that down.” I pointed to my Mecha. Shrift grunted, shaking his head as he turned to it.
“Help me get that damned thing down,” he said to a group of Kuruvians and humans who grabbed gravity carts floating beside the armor. Shrift directed them as they released it from its clamp and brought it to the floor. I was keenly aware how they watched me as I approached it, keying it open as I took off my weapons—handing them to a waiting Shrift. He put the sword on my back as he helped me get into my Mecha.
It still smelled of dried blood and sweat, I found, as my nerve ports connected and the armored panels closed around me. It felt like dull electricity ran through my veins from the Mecha.
“You’re first on the list for the new Mechas.” Shrift attached my pistol and holster to my leg. A human passed him a rifle, which he secured in place too. “Now, bring back the damned decoration. You don’t know what a ribbing I got from Eddie about not melting it down.” Shrift said, referring to Salchar’s old armor that he’d welded to his armories wall.
“I will,” I said with a grin as my headset chirruped. A monocle extended from the unit, informing me it was Rick calling. My helmet, being as smashed as it was, would only hinder me, meaning I would have to rely on the communications device and its tiny monocle. I made a displeased sound as I opened the channel.
“Sir, we have brought the human Mecha representatives onboard. I have placed them in a vacant bay.” Rick paused.
I could tell there was something else he wasn’t sure whether to say or not. “What is it, Rick?”
“Well, these people didn’t have your rules when they were training and they were even younger.”
Dread filled me as my voice became hollow. “How old are they?”
“Between the ages of seven and fifteen.”
My face changed to ash as my worst fears plagued me. There had been a few squads that hadn’t played with any rules for a while. They were wilder than the rest of us and barely trusted anyone. Though if they had no rules at all and they were younger, so they didn’t know any better...
“Get Henry on standby. I will meet them myself.” I pushed my dread away.
“Sir, they could kill you just to try to become commander. They’ve already broken into brawls several times after seeing one another to gain more control. They’re like animals,” Rick warned as I squared my shoulders.
“Sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel. The armory door opened behind me. I turned, seeing two silhouettes in the doorway, each with their own customized armor.
“Plus, I have all the backup I need right here.” My grin went feral. The other two silhouetted Mechas did the same, one twirling a heavy metal staff and the other wearing a miniskirt tipped with plasmid and carrying dual heavy caliber sub machine guns.
“Sir?”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.” My monocle showed a blue ball to guide me to the bay.
“Good luck, James,” Shrift said.
“Keep up the good work and I want you to look at the quickest docks to set up, as well as the longest lasting.”
“Sir, isn’t that Eddie’s department or Min Hae’s and Felix’s?” he asked, puzzled.
“You deal with exoskeletons all the time, complicated machines that last for a time. Also you’ve already adapted your work to a factory line, which shows me you’re willing to adapt to new methods of working to produce something faster.”
“I can see where you’re coming from now,” Shrift said thoughtfully, scratching his chin before he grinned. “On the eve of a possible battle, you’re getting me to look into making a dock. How many steps ahead are you, really?”
I shrugged. Better to let them guess how many than actually know how many ways I was behind in most things. I walked out of the armory toward my date with the human representatives. I hugged my two companions. Our armor came together in a clang before we began moving, talking, and for the first time in a long time, I relaxed—even though I knew it was only going to get more difficult.
Mechas Without Rules
“So, where is this great Commander Salchar?” the biggest of the representatives bellowed. He was massive, in a lineman sort of way, with a wideset body that made him look short even though he was a bit taller than me. At this point, all of the enhancing meals and training we’d gone through had made the AMCs look like Greek statues.
The man in the secure room in front of me, however, looked like a human tank. He’d obviously become the alpha of the group by the way that the others responded to him. He was in a better state than them, wearing a mostly complete battle suit. It seemed a constant among most of them that they were disheveled. Most of them looked as if they hadn’t showered in weeks and had wounds ranging from a few hours old to a few weeks.
The biggest thing that separated them from my Mechas was the haunted look in their eyes—the way they looked at one another, looking for weaknesses to exploit and watching if another would attack them. They reminded me as much of a pack of dogs as they did humans. Disgusted, I walked into the room. My two companions walked with me.
“You’re actually Salchar!” one of the representatives said. Their eyes widened at me and my companions. “Mad Monk and Psycho Cheerleader.” He was shocked. He pointed to us as he said our names. Another representative smacked the talker with a savage blow, knocking him down before she jumped on the talker with a sneer on her face and a wild expression in her eyes.
“Monk.”
Monk moved from my side, his robes swishing as he launched himself. He wore less armor than anyone else and had faster servos to add to his blinding speed as he paused next to the attacker, putting his staff underneath her, and tossed her against a far bulkhead. It was so fast that the attacker didn’t know Monk had moved until she made contact with the bulkhead.
He twirled his staff so it was vertical as he took a knee next to the one that had been talking. With a shrug, his hand whipped out with Hellfire, injecting the speaker, and then he backed off.
“FUUUUUUUCK!” the man screamed. His body arched as his voice was cut off. I could see his skin, bones, and muscles pulling together as his surface wounds sealed, giving them a glossy look.
He laid there, looking at the ceiling for a few seconds as everyone stared at him.
The woman who had hit the wall was just getting up, obviously dazed as she looked around the room. She found Monk, giving him a stare that could kill as Monk lifted his visor so the man on the ground could see his face.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t sure if you had internal injuries, so I applied it as quickly as possible. It does live up to its name—Hellfire,” Monk said apologetically to the other man, his face serene as always, as if he hadn’t thrown someone thirty feet with a big piece of heavy duty rebar.
“That fucking hurt!” He picked himself up. A look of interest came over his face as he rolled his shoulder and moved about. “Damn, that healed my shoulder up too. Where can I get some more of that?” he asked with renewed mobility from old wounds being restored, allowing him to move more freely.
Monk smiled happily, putting a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “All things come with time.” Then he jumped again, landing next to the woman whose eyes went wide with panic as she tried to run. Monk caught her with a vise-like grip before injecting her. She dropped to the floor and went as stiff as every person who had used Hellfire did. He didn’t spare her another glance, walking back to me and Cheerleader, his face calm and peaceful.
Monk wasn’t a violent man, but he knew how to use force in the best way to create the biggest effect. He didn’t want others to suffer, which was as terrifying as it was kind when thinking he was a fully trained commando.
“The next person to attack someone in this room will be tried according to the Free Fleet’s code of conduct,” I said, my voice brooking no argument. I didn’t need to tell them that I hadn’t even begun to make such a code but it had the desired effect as they snarled but didn’t move
to inflict damage on anyone else.
“Good, moving on. My name is Commander Salchar of the Free Fleet.”
“Not for long,” the large man said, a dark look in his eyes.
“Oh reaaall—”
“I challenge you to a duel for the title of commander. Weakling.” Dark snarls appeared on the representatives’ faces like hungry hyenas.
These people just loved to interrupt me. I stomped over to him, coming into the full light of the room. My scarred face, missing arm and battle-scarred Mecha had quite an impression, I found.
“Now, I might be a lot of things, but a coward is not one of them. You are cowards.” I gestured to them with my arm. “You stopped being humans when you turned on one another for the whims of the people who commanded you. You gave up your beliefs to survive—this I understand. Yet, you then used the power you found to intimidate, bully, and force others to do as you wanted. You think you’re big and bad and I should be scared of you?” I said in a babying tone. “I’m more scared of one of my commandos with no limbs. Commandos have drive, they have a purpose, and they will see it through till the end. You—you just have greed.”
“Nice words. Still don’t make any difference,” the large one said again as I looked him in his eyes. In bare seconds, he looked away. He looked ashamed, and young, very young. Sadly, I realized I had two choices. Either I face the large child, accelerated into adulthood, who was the apex of their system and win, replacing him. Or I try the peaceful route, with no guarantees. I needed some control over them before I could help them, leaving me with the displeasing first option.
“Fine.” I tossed my hand up in the air. “What’re your rules?”
“No armor, weapons, or clothes,” he said, already stripping down.
“Or fist,” I muttered as I turned away from the human representatives.
Getting undressed was the last thing I wanted to do in this room, but I needed to win fairly. I took off my gauntlet, attaching it to my Mecha, and unbuttoned and released the clasps that held me in the Mecha.
Free Fleet Box Set 1 Page 34
